About

Common and Kind was founded in June 2016

The story begins in London on the morning of the 24th of June. Motivated by the divisive impact of events and rhetoric in the UK and concurrent developments across the world, singer and community leader Michael Solomon Williams posted on social media, calling upon people to respond positively and collaboratively to division.

The response was phenomenal. Thousands of musicians, from pop and classical singers, musical theatre, folk and opera stars to chamber choirs and community choirs came forward, as well as orchestral players, concert soloists, jazz musicians and many more across the world. In an age of division, music could unite like nothing else.

To channel the offerings of thousands across the world, Michael wrote the single Human Kind. Featuring the words of John Donne (‘No man’s an island’) and Jo Cox (‘more in common’), the song was conceived to be adaptable for all musical genres. It was designed so that it could be recorded anywhere in the world, bringing people together from all communities, cultures and nations.

The base ingredient was recorded at the end of the first Union Chapel concert on Tuesday 2nd August 2016. With a huge line-up of solo artists, massed choral and orchestral forces, it was a truly extraordinary evening of music spanning styles and crossing borders, all organised in a matter of weeks. Artists included leading international stars from a huge variety of backgrounds: Cassidy Janson, star of Beautiful – The Carole King Musical, mezzo soprano Dame Sarah Connolly, guitarist Mark Lettieri from Snarky Puppy, pop chart-topper Sarah Jane Morris and Bengali folk icon Saida Tani. James Burton conducted the massed choir of four hundred people and orchestra led by Britten Sinfonia principal Thomas Gould. Journalist, author and activist George Monbiot premiered his collaborative album with Scottish folk singer Ewan McLennan, ‘Breaking the Spell of Loneliness’. The concert was hosted by legendary journalist and broadcaster Robin Lustig, former anchor of BBC Radio 4’s The World Tonight.

Since that concert, choirs and soloists from across the world sent in recordings. They include Pihcintu, a choir combining refugees from Cambodia, China, Congo, El Salvador, Egypt, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Uganda, Vietnam, West Indies, and Zambia as well as choirs from Vietnam, Northern Ireland, Scotland, India, Malaysia, the UK and USA. The single also features soloists Cassidy Janson, J.Hoard, Dame Sarah Connolly, Saida Tani and nine members of Snarky Puppy.

Human Kind was released on the 16/06/2017 in memory of Jo Cox. As well as the free-to-view Youtube video featuring concert and worldwide footage, the single is available for MP3 download. All proceeds of online sales are donated to Musicians without Borders, Music Action International & Amnesty International.

Past Events

2021

Common & Kind 2021 – Fifth Anniversary Concert, 15th July

We were delighted that we were able to celebrate a safe return to live events and our FIFTH ANNIVERSARY! This was a spectacular collaborative multi-genre concert at the Round Chapel on Thursday 15th July 2021, the culmination of a series of workshops with adults, schools, refugee and asylum seekers.

Common and Kind concerts and workshops unite an exceptional range of world-leading solo artists from across the musical spectrum with a massed choir comprising adults and schools, refugees & people from a huge range of backgrounds in unique and inspiring collaboration. This very special concert combined live and recorded elements to create a uniquely powerful event. It featured a very special reduced-size choir, including many who joined C & K online in 2020.

Solo artists included BERNHARD SCHIMPELSBERGER (Percussion/drums/konnakol), CASSIDY JANSON (Olivier Award-Winning West End star), J. HOARD (US soul sensation, live streaming from NYC), SAIDA TANI (Bengali folk-pop icon) and THOMAS GOULD (Violin, leader of Britten Sinfonia).

As well as six sensational solo artists, the concert featured the premiere of the new C & K single in support of the UNHCR, as well as a special new arrangement of You’ve Got a Friend. The choir also combined with all the solo artists at the end of the concert in a live fifth anniversary performance of our founding single, Human Kind.

We are acutely conscious of how difficult this period has been and continues to be for so many, and how many have lost loved ones. We ourselves lost a cherished member of the C & K family, the rapper Ty (Ben Chijioke) who joined us in 2018 for an unforgettable set. We dedicated this concert to Ty’s memory, giving thanks for his extraordinary impact on the musical world, and his exceptional and generous support for young people and music.

2019

In 2019 the massed choir of four hundred included school partnerships from Brent, Hackney,Tower Hamlets and Haringey, bringing children from a range of backgrounds together from across London, along with adult choir & refugee partnerships and a sensational line-up of solo artists.

Gwilym Simcock
Tim Garland
J Hoard
Saida Tani
Nish Kumar
Beethoven Orchestra for Humanity
Nadine Benjamin
Cassidy Janson

2018

We returned to the Union Chapel in 2018 for another extraordinary concert. This year the massed choir of four hundred included school partnerships for the first time, bringing children from a range of backgrounds together from across London, along with adult choir refugee partnerships and a sensational line-up of solo artists.

J. Hoard
Ty
SuRie
Bernhard Schimpelsberger
Chris Gall
Nadine Benjamin
The Beethoven Orchestra for Humanity
Saida Tani
George Monbiot
Ewan McLennan

2017

In 2017 we returned in style to the Union Chapel. This year the massed choir of 400 was the product of partnership workshops between fourteen different choirs of all description (from classical chamber choirs to reggae and gospel choirs, community choirs and more), the Islington Centre for Refugees and Migrants and Rainbows Across Borders LGBT asylum seekers. Another extraordinary array of solo artists came together from across the musical spectrum.